Opening the Oyster
by Addster
Summary: The rough, ugly outside may redirect those not motivated, but to those who are, my friend, the pearl awaits you. Naruto and Tsunade, nothing gross here people.


**AN: I love weekends, they give me plenty of time to do nothing but lay around in my underwear and write. It's great. Hey! I really liked this story, don't really know where the inspiration for it came from, but this has to be one of my favorite stories I've written. I hope you like it as much as I do, so read and enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: don't own anything as cool as Naruto.**

Naruto fell to the earth with a heavy thud; his exhausted body limply sprawled under an old Sakura tree.

"How much longer are you gonna keep looking for women, Pervy Sage?" The teen whined angrily as he rolled onto his side and hid his face in his jacket.

"A man of romance such as myself must be persistent if he wishes to find love." The white haired sage mused as he let his pack fall next to Naruto, some of the innards spilling out and into the grass. Naruto didn't say anything as he closed his eyes and tried ignoring his master's boisterous ramblings.

Noticing Naruto wasn't listening to his anecdotes of how famous he was for rescuing an entire tavern full of women from a gang raid, Jiraiya changed subjects.

"Are you hungry?" He asked the teen. Naruto shot up like a coiled spring and got right in Jiraiya's face.

"Yes! Very much so!" Naruto declared with hands clasped together in almost a praying manner. With a slick smile on his lips and a twinkle in his dark onyx eyes, the toad sage got to his feet.

"Alright, I'll go pick up some food. I saw a pretty decent sushi bar in town, sound good?" Like the question really needed to be asked.

"It's perfect! I'll pretty much eat anything at this point!" The blonde squealed and fell back into the grass and rubbing his empty stomach.

"Well you should have told me if you were hungry. You're not a slave…" Jiraiya laughed at the boy as he rolled uncomfortably in the grass.

" I'll be back in about a half hour. Will you live that long?"

"I might, that caterpillar looks good enough for an appetizer…" Naruto joked as he listened to Jiraiya's footsteps fade away.

"Don't eat the bug." Jiraiya called back once he reached the bottom of the hill the two had just scaled. Naruto smiled and rolled onto his back, bright cerulean eyes focused on the wafting Sakura blossoms cluttering the ground around him. He remembers standing near one of the beautiful trees before he left the village, Tsunade with him and Jiraiya as they got ready to leave.

Tsunade.

Naruto rolled her name through his mind a few times over. She was one of the people he missed the most. He missed her scolding (believe it or not), the pretty perfume she always wore, and the warm smile she'd only flash when Naruto himself was in the room. Thinking back to the day he and the pervert left, she was the biggest part of the memory.

"_Remember to brush your teeth, and change your underwear before they start to smell, you could get a rash. And eat right; too much fast food will make you fat. Promise me you wont train yourself to death, don't train in the rain, you'll catch a cold, and don't wear yourself out all the time. And don't forget to…" Naruto laughed as he remembered every little ramble she went through at the main gate. _

_He was inches away from leaving and there she was, spilling her guts about everything he should and shouldn't do. She was holding his shoulders and staring into his eyes for some parts of her list, other times she would trail off and wipe a smudge off of his face, and then she would send a vicious glare towards Jiraiya._

"_If you bring him back with an ounce of corruption, I will castrate you with a dull knife." Tsunade warned the toad sage as he took a few cautious steps back._

"_Yes, ma'am." Jiraiya promised, one hand behind his back with his fingers crossed. Her glare deviated away from her old teammate and softened when her eyes met Naruto._

"_Try and write, okay? Tell me what's up and how you're doing. I'm gonna miss you kiddo…" Tsunade whispered the last bit softly as she lowered herself a bit and hugged her little blonde gennin, sneaking a small kiss on his forehead before they parted._

"_You got it, baa-chan. I promise." Naruto told her quietly, knowing Jiraiya was out of earshot. Tsunade smiled her warm, platinum smile and put her hand on the top of his spiky head._

"_Alright, go. Get out of here and come back strong." She cheered as Naruto turned and headed over towards Jiraiya who had started walking for the gate._

"_And taller! I don't wanna have to keep bending over to talk to you, it'll kill my back!" Tsunade called out to him. He turned his head back to her, his face painted with a look of annoyance._

"_I'll be taller than you in no time! I'll be taller than Pervy Sage when I get back, so then you'll have to stand on a chair to talk to me!" Naruto hollered back, an immature blush tinting his cheeks._

Naruto raised a hand to his forehead; his middle finger rubbing a circle in the same spot Tsunade had kissed him. Jiraiya had told him getting affection from Tsunade was like getting a fish to walk around on land. He told him Tsunade had always been stubborn, never one to freely open herself up to others.

Naruto remembers Jiraiya telling him he was a special case.

"You must remind her of her little brother…" Was just about all Jiraiya would say when it came to that subject, Naruto never knew why. But he knew it was a bit more than what the toad sage would ever let on.

"Why don't I just ask her…" Naruto breathed as he sat himself up and turned to Jiraiya's pack. He pulled it over and started fishing for that notebook he always saw his master carrying around, the one Jiraiya would start scribbling in at any hour of the day. He had once caught the sannin writing by the moonlight a few weeks ago, his eyes lit up with some spark Naruto had never once seen before.

"Oh, c'mon. Where is it?" Naruto grumbled, huffing a bit before finally resorting to dumping the entire thing and sifting through everything by hand.

"It's not here." Naruto thought out loud as he scratched his chin and then started putting the pack's innards back in.

"Dammit, baa-chan'll be mad if I don't write. I forgot to send her a letter last month and she thought I died or something…" Naruto continued grumbling to himself, brows knit in mild frustration as he sat Indian style under the shady Sakura tree.

By chance, just as he shifted his weight, he felt something under his left butt cheek, something dense and square. Naruto lifted his butt and reached his hand around to feel the spot under him.

"AHA!" He hollered with excitement as he thrust the notebook into the air with his other hand curled into a fist as he pumped it into the air.

"Gotcha." He leered towards the notepad triumphantly and plopped himself back onto the soft grass as he skimmed through the book, looking for a blank piece he could use for his letter, suddenly stopping when something caught his eye. Flipping back a few pages, his fingers fell upon a thick piece of paper with a glossy back to it. He took it out of the bind of the notebook and turned it around.

It was a picture.

The angle the picture was taken from was crooked, like the person was tripping over something as they took the shot. It was a picture of him and Tsunade sleeping in a small hotel bed. Tsunade had pulled the covers all the way up to Naruto's neck, one of her hands had cupped the back of his head and had nestled it into her neck while she rested her head atop his own. Her long blonde hair was out of its usual pigtails and was now splayed around her like a curtain of silk, some of her golden locks tangling with his sun kissed spikes.

The room looked familiar, Naruto could remember the crappy wallpaper and the ugly blue comforter covering his body.

"That was from-"

"She didn't leave your side until you woke up." Jiraiya's voice boomed from somewhere behind Naruto and the teen jumped up in surprise.

"H-how long have you been standing there?" Naruto interrogated as a guilty blush burned on his cheeks.

"Long enough to watch you pull my notebook from your butt." Jiraiya retorted coolly as he lowered the bag full of take-out boxes and sat next to Naruto.

"I was sitting on it…" Naruto mumbled as he handed Jiraiya the photo and tore open the plastic bag, hungrily tearing his chopsticks apart as he eyed his sushi.

"Why did she do that?" Naruto managed to get out through his mouthful of food, one of his eyebrows raised curiously towards the toad sage.

Jiraiya was silent for a moment as he stared at the photo. A few of the corners were folded and worn and a spot or two of some strange substance dappled the picture, but not enough to damage the beautiful image.

"Because she was worried sick about you. She didn't even bother with her own injuries, she focused all her energy on you." Jiraiya answered Naruto, a sentimental smile appearing on his lips.

"Why?" Naruto gulped down another mouthful and primed his chopsticks over a slice of tuna, attention divided between Jiraiya and his food.

"You really are dense, kid." Jiraiya laughed as he stabbed some beef tempura with his stick and stuffed it in his mouth. Naruto stopped the stalk he had going for his next raw fish victim and shot a befuddled look towards Jiraiya.

"Hmm?"

"Do you not understand women at all?"

"Well…they're kind of…something along the lines of…no. I don't." Naruto finally admitted as he lowered his head.

"Well my young pupil, I will share with you my vast knowledge of the female creature. Are you ready?" Jiraiya exaggerated with a Hulk Hogan like pose as he grinned a devious grin.

"Okay!" Naruto brightened immediately at his master's strange pose.

"Then listen closely, young grasshopper. I'll tell you why Tsunade likes you so much." Naruto sat with baited breath as he continued to shovel food down his throat.

"Tsunade is a very dynamic woman, always has been. And she's not one to open up very easily. She's like an oyster, you have to pry open the hard outside to get to the pearl inside." Jiraiya took a dramatic bite of sushi; his eyes focused somewhere far off as he chewed.

"And kiddo, you split that rough outside wide open and found her pearl. Hell, you pretty much wear it around your neck." Naruto unconsciously reached for the necklace dangling from his neck, his fingers running over the smooth stone habitually.

"For as long as I've known her, I don't ever think I've seen her give away her pearl. You're special Naruto. I don't know how you do it, but she loves you." Jiraiya chuckled as he picked up his takeout box and stabbed another piece of tempura into his mouth. Naruto sat next to him, a bit shell shocked from his words. Love? Someone loved him?

Naruto spaced out and started tugging Tsunade's necklace, eyes wide as he clenched the stone.

"She loves me?" He barely choked out through his smile. Jiraiya turned back to him, a bit surprised at the teen's reaction.

"Of course she does, people don't risk their lives for people they don't care about. Orochimaru nearly killed her when she protected you; his sword went right through her. I had never seen her so adamant about something like she was, it was a bit awe-inspiring. And thanks to her, you're still alive squirt." Jiraiya recalled a bit fondly when he remembered snapping the photo he still held in his hand. Tsunade herself didn't know this picture existed, and he highly doubted she would have a problem with it. But for some reason, Jiraiya kept it in his little notebook and rarely ever took it out.

He kept it as a reminder of the two most important people in his world.

"So why do you keep it?" Naruto's face was a bit serious; he even had an empty mouth when he asked his question. Jiraiya thought, actually tried to honestly answer his question.

"I don't really know." Jiraiya shrugged as he handed the picture back to Naruto.

"You can have it, kid. All I use it for is a bookmark." He lied. Naruto gently reclaimed the photo with a smile, his sushi surprisingly left forgotten next to him. Naruto stared at the picture for a little while longer, and then a thought jumped into his mind.

"Do you have a blank piece of paper?" Naruto asked without looking up.

"Yeah, here." Jiraiya tore out a blank piece from his notebook and handed it over.

"Whadya need it for?"

"I'm gonna write baa-chan a letter." He said more to himself than his master as he turned and dug for the pen in the small pouch of the pack.

"Are you gonna finish your food?" Jiraiya quizzed and watched Naruto shake his head.

"Have it." He answered quickly and started writing. Jiraiya watched the boy for a good half hour as he wrote, handing him more paper when he asked and another pen when the first ran out of ink. Naruto went at it, spilling his soul on the paper as he recalled all of the little things he ever remembered Tsunade do for him, all the scoldings that showed how much she cared, the free lunches she'd buy him after a mission well done, and the tender kisses she'd sneak for him.

When he finally finished and clicked the pen in, Naruto fell back with a heavy breath and closed his eyes, his letter held firm on his chest with his heavy hand. Jiraiya had long finished eating, he even saved Naruto's food, knowing full well the boy would be hungry in the morning and whine when he found out there was no food. Hearing a soft snore, Jiraiya laughed quietly at the teen's dedication and slipped the letter from his hand, quickly catching the picture before it fell to the grass.

Jiraiya's dark onyx eyes scanned the entire letter, straining in some parts when the writing got a little sketchy. The whole letter was as heart felt as a fourteen year old could manage. Jiraiya smiled at the thought of Tsunade crying as she read his letter.

Jiraiya stood up and looked toward the horizon, squinting his eyes from the setting sun's light. With his big hands, he gently placed the picture in the fold of the letter and slipped it into his pocket.

"I'm gonna go mail this for you. I'll be right back." Naruto grunted a response while still remaining motionless in the tall grass.

**OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo**

It was nearing six am in Konoha when the letter arrived. Shizune was sorting through the morning mail when she came across the handwritten mailing address in that familiar bold scrawl. She softly smiled as she picked it up and hurried off to Tsunade's office with her other mail.

Nearly jogging down the hall, Shizune slowed her pace as she lightly rapped on the door a few times and called out her mistress's name.

"Lady Tsunade, it's me." She called out and opened the door to find Tsunade slumped over her desk, out like a light.

"Lady Tsunade." Shizune called softly as she approached the big mahogany desk. Tsunade didn't move.

"Lady Tsunade." Shizune tried a bit louder. Nothing but a snore.

"LADY TSUNADE!" That got her up. The busty hokage nearly jumped through the roof as she shot up and stared at Shizune wide eyed and alert.

"I'm awake." Tsunade stated sharply as she blinked a few times and grabbed her pen and assumed '_the position'._ Shizune sighed and laid the mail down on Tsunade's desk.

"No paperwork?" The blonde quizzed as sleep started to reclaim its vice grip around her brain.

"Not yet. Mail first." Shizune said happily as Tsunade grabbed the first envelope from the top of the stack.

"It better not be from that crotchety Tsuchikage, I told him there's nothing I can do for those hips of his. He's just too damn old." Tsunade bitched as she ripped the top off the envelope and unfolded the letter, blinking when something fell out and onto her lap.

Her thin fingers picked up the picture and raised it to her eyes, the honey-brown orbs widening when she saw what it was. Tsunade stared at the picture for the longest time; so long in fact poor Shizune thought her Hokage was having some sort of aneurism.

"Are you alright? What is it, Lady Tsunade?" Shizune prodded like an over protective mother as Tsunade (mouth still agape), handed her the picture. With gentle hands, Shizune took the picture from her and looked it over, a warm smile spreading across her face.

"Aww, I forgot Lord Jiraiya took this! You're so cute with Naruto." Shizune continued to babble about how much the picture reminded her of a mother and her child, Tsunade reclaimed her head and reached for the letter and began to read. Her eyes were immediately hit with the chicken scratch she had come to adore as Naruto's. She started reading, softly laughing at the, _'hey baa-chan!'_ opening.

_Hey baa-chan!_

_It's Naruto, you told me to write, so I am. I found this picture in Pervy Sage's stuff. I asked him about it and he told me you were an oyster and something about a pearl and how I wear it around my neck or something. But he told me that you didn't leave my side until I woke up. I didn't know that, thanks baa-chan. And then he said something about you loving me._

_I didn't really believe him at first, but he sounded sincere. And I was just wondering if he was right, because I think I kind of love you too. I mean, you're like the mom I never had. You yell at me when I'm rude and you're always really nice around me. And you're always like, 'change your underwear and don't go into places where there are naked women.' I haven't gone into places like that yet, Pervy Sage hasn't taken me anywhere interesting yet, but he was on the prowl today._

_But all perverted things aside, I just wanted to tell you that I miss you and I love you with all my heart. Pervy Sage says cheesy stuff like that really kills the ladies. I really wanted to thank you for protecting me from that creepy pedophile snake guy; Pervy Sage said you almost died! You don't know how much that means to me, baa-chan. I've never had someone do something that nice for me. I mean, that was more than nice, that was like badass awesome!_

_But you won't have to worry about getting hurt protecting me anymore, because I'm a whole lot stronger than I used to be. It'll be my turn to protect you, and I won't let anyone hurt you because you're one of my precious people. And Naruto Uzumaki doesn't let anyone touch his precious people!_

_I wanted to give you this picture because if I keep it, it might get damaged or I might loose it and I don't want that to happen, because that would mean I'd lose the only proof I have of me sleeping with the Hokage! Don't take that in a perverted kind of way, though._

_I'm really tired so I think I'll call it a night. Can you frame the picture and keep it safe for me? That would be great, thanks. When I get back, I'll take you out for ramen and we can talk and make fun of Pervy Sage together. I'll be a lot taller than you so you won't have to bend your back. _

_Thank you so much for everything, baa-chan. I love you, see you soon!_

_ Love,_

_Naruto_

Tsunade put a hand to her mouth as she felt the tears stream down her face. She slowly put the letter down on her desk, taking a deep breath before she allowed herself to openly cry. Shizune peeled her eyes away from the photo when she heard her mistress sob.

"What happened? Are they alright?" Shizune was worried now, Tsunade never cried. She rushed over and started reading the letter, confused as to what could possibly make the Hokage cry after reading over the entire thing.

"Oh Shizune, they're fine, chill out." Tsunade scoffed as she wiped her eyes and took the picture back into her hands.

"Then why are you crying?" Tsunade was silent for some time as she stared at the picture, remembering when she gently laid Naruto down on that hotel bed and tucked him in, then falling in place next to him and going to sleep. She remembers tucking his head in her neck, close to where her heart was. And she remembers how he curled up into her on contact, like an infant does when laid on their mother's chest.

"Because I gave that boy my pearl…" Tsunade whispered as she pulled out a piece of paper and grabbed her pen, a lifetimes worth of words ready to be spilled onto her paper.

**Yosh! I really love metaphors! I really love Tsunade, I just kind of realized that after looking through my profile and seeing that every story I've written has her in it. I was like, "whoa...I think I'm obsessed." But she makes for great writing material. Thanks for reading and I hope you all send me reviews, they're loved! **

**PEACE :P**


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